Tuesday, June 23, 2009

What do you do by two?

I don't know about you, but every once in awhile I have one of those days that makes me feel like I've crammed in a week's excitement by the time I reach two o'clock. Today is one of those days, and 2:00 is the magic number because it just happens to be the time that I got both kids down for naps and sat down to breathe. As I sit and think about it, it's kind of amazing (and a little exhausting) to consider how much half a day can hold. I guess there's a little super hero in all of us, waiting to pop out and shine when the moment presents itself. Mine definitely "popped" today, but what was terribly disappointing was the lack of glamour that came with it. Nothing today would warrant a cape or movie time to anyone except those who have had their share of "moments" and know what a truly super thing it is to survive without a meltdown (at least on your part!)

So here's the nitty-gritty:

*I had the girls and myself, cleaned, fed and dressed by 9:00, and I was out the door by 10:00 with the play room cleaned, the bed made, the mess made by the dumb dog cleaned, work emails answered, and story time completed.

*We drive across town for Adrienne's weight check at the doctor (with the good news of a hefty two lbs gained in 6 weeks!) and are told that we need to go to a lab for a little blood work.

*We load back up in the 97 degree heat, and we are off to the less than kid friendly environment of the Apple store for a new charger. Both girls are crying because of the heat, thirst, and overall crankiness by the time we are in the store. The place is a mad house. Everyone looks urgent and no one else has kids. The line is really long, and Adrienne kicks and cries while I hold her, and Marianna stands by my side and cries as we wait.

*We load back up in the 97 degree heat, and take off to the lab for blood work. Adrienne has really tiny veins that prove VERY difficult to work with. The first attempt makes her scream until she has soaked her arm and mine with her tears. They draw blood but not enough. They come back with the news that I'm going to need to hold her down again as they try the other arm. I watch in horror as they wiggle and wriggle the needle around trying to find a vein as Adrienne lets out heart-wrenching sobs. No luck with the second attempt, and neither Adrienne or I can handle any more, so we head out and hope they are able to run the test with what they got.

*We load back up in the 97 degree heat (just in case you've lost count, this is time number 3) and head to Chick-fil-a for a pick-me-up. In transit, Adrienne dumps a bag of rice cakes onto Marianna (I was a softy and let her hold the bag because of all the trauma she had just been through) and Marianna now feels traumatized by the crumbs and rice cakes covering her and her seat.

*We make it home. As I'm unloading, I see that Adrienne's cup of milk has overturned and has soaked through the carpet of the car. The back seat looks like an elementary school food fight has taken place.

*I take the girls inside, sit them down to lunch, clean up the car, vaccum the house, spot clean the carpet (once you're on a roll, it's hard to stop!) re-organize the toy closet, play with the girls, and at 1:55, I put them down.

Whew. If you made it to this point, I congratulate you. Half way through I realized, no one will care to read this list, just as certainly as I did not care to go through it. But I hated to delete it all and have nothing to show for my few minutes of relaxation and computer time.

Now I am eating cold grapes and thinking about that little lurker, the superhero, and how it shows up at the most unlikely times! Thank goodness God put a little "super" into us because, frankly, I just don't feel up to it some days on my own =).

Now it's your turn, and I hope you don't hold back! Please tell me, what do you do by two?

16 comments:

I used to be a nanny for 6 kids, so I know exaclty what you're feeling!!! I LOVEd the days when the youngest had preschool for 2 hours in the afternoon so I could actually go to the bathroom or take a shower! :)

worked out, fed kids breakfast, took care of husband who hurt his back during his workout, made bacon for husband, packed lunches, made beds, loaded up kids in 97 degree heat, dropped them off for MDO (Thank you, Lord!!), did some MOPS planning, exchanged 2 dresses, inquired about a mirror, met husband for quick lunch, did some more MOPS planning, put in a load of laundry, and picked up girls!

Whew!! I can't imagine having to endure an awful dr. appt though! Poor baby... I hope it all comes back ok!!

What do I do by two? I wish and hope that my afternoon passes by quickly with two happy children. I am not an artsy mommy, so usually an outside activity happens, or I have to admit, TV for a while. The worst time of day for me is around 4:30. Kids are tired, but too early for bed, too late to get an activity started before dinner... you know what I mean?

Well, my friend, I'm just impressed with what you did by 10 a.m. My day today was relatively easy with that decision made last night when our Monday was a bit crazy. Let's see...today our day looked like this: breakfast, girls dressed and me dressed to run w/ the girls in the (Graco, no doubt) stroller and Charley by 9:00. Run like a crazy woman in the 97 degree heat, Play in the yard and water the flowers. Naptime for A, Video time for S and shower for me around 10. More playtime, lunchtime, reading time. Naps around 1:30/2 for the girls. Straighten up the house and play on the computer by 2...then I took a nap = ).

lets see.wake up 5am- eat yogurtgo back to sleepwake up 7am- eat granola bargo back to sleepwake up 9am- eat cheeriosgo back to sleepsleep way to long and wake up starvingeat huge lunch, then a walk to starbucks,then by 2pm I start my day and work and accomplish whatever I can:)

Sounds like my day tomorrow minus the bloodwork. My Macbook charger has been going out for a week now and it finally died. I've been without my laptop for 2 days and it is driving me crazy. I've been using John's little laptop and I've had enough of that. I guess I will have to drive into town, haha from Atoka, to go to the Apple store. I love the breakdown of your day because it makes me realize that I'm not alone with the spots on my floor and my van looking like the lunch room after a food fight. Thanks for being real.

My days are a little different. Radar usually wakes me up by 5:30am. I play with him for a little while, then change his diaper and put on his clothes for the day (or at least for the part of the day until he poops out or spits up all over the clothes I've picked). On a good day, if I can muster the energy, I get up and go to the gym for a 45 minute workout. When I get home, I shower, get dressed, pump milk, walk the dog (with baby in tow), feed baby, clean up breakfast mess and whatever mess I left from the night before, pack my lunch, pour my water for the ride to work and sing Radar one last song and apologize with a tear in my eye that I have to go to work. I leave the house by 8:45am.

On my way to work, sometimes I feel pretty much like an "early morning super hero," but I guess it's just par for the course.

Enjoy all your chaos and your downtime... they're both blessing that fit together like yin and yang.

Getting out of the house by 10:00 with a clean house is my favorite thing to do!! I always feel so accomplished!

Today though, we left the house at 9:30 with everyone dressed and I even remembered to fix all the hairs! Oh, and the house was straightened up and all beds made!! I even packed a cooler for us to have a picnic. We went to the kid movies, got popcorn and drinks, sat down, and my three-year-old said her neck hurt. She has never said this before, and continued to say it in obvious pain. We leave the movie twenty minutes into it (the other two were fabulous about leaving, btw) and I call the doctor. She has an appt open in ten minutes. I am about six minutes away. Thank you, God!! We get there and she's screaming by this point. I am scared and crying, as well. We find out it is probably a crick in her neck, but she is still in a lot of pain, so we go home and have our picnic at the kitchen table and we've been in my bed since. It's now 2:26. Hey, atleast I got out of the house with dressed children and beds made at 9:30! And I really need to thank my big kids!

My 5-year-old still talks about the time you ate the poop off Marianna's finger! That's a classic.

I have decided that with the addition of each child, your "2:00" will change. . .when I just had Olivia, I could make it to 3 w/ relative ease. then along came Hillary, and my 3 became 2. now that I have Kate, I can barely make it to 1:00 (naptime for her - yeah!) without someone - possibly myself - have a total mental or emotional breakdown. but it's my life. . .and I love it! naptime for Kate (which also means quiet time for the big girls) gives me time to re-charge and get ready for the chaos between naptime an bedtime! ;-)

I hear ya. I'm not a mom, but I teach first grade. I know 20 six year olds are no match for having your own kids. But I think I have an understanding of how hectic it is. Congratulations on making it till two!

Hi, I've read your blog for a long time but never commented. I wanted to offer a suggestion if either of your girls has to have blood drawn again. My son has JRA and requires twice monthly blood draws. His rheumatologist perscribed LMAX cream that I put on his arms about 1/2 an hour before the blood draw. It's lidocaine cream that numbs up the area. It is WONDERFUL. The lab tech who helps us told me that usually a parent can request it but very few parents KNOW to request it. I hope this helps!